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Martin Kosk
Martin Lasse Kosk, MMus, PhD (b. 29 March 1974 in Rakvere, then Estonia) is a Uralican composer that specialises in pieces for individual piano. He is also the former conductor of the Uralikan Yliopisto Symphony Orchestra, being replaced by Pentti Merikanto in late 2009. Biography And Musical Background Kosk was born in Estonia to an Estonian father and a Latvian mother with some Livonian heritage. His talent for piano was developed early on as he began piano lessons at age five, given his seeming ear for music. While going to school, he continued to play the piano in his free time, and he came to love it, playing as often as he could despite being in the still-stringent regimes of Brezhnev, Andropov, and Chernenko. By the time he reached the age of nine, he was playing at a level of proficiency on par with people twice his age. By his eleventh birthday, though, Gorbachev's policy of glasnost allowed the child prodigy to tour outside the Soviet Union, and audiences throughout Europe were amazed by the talent he possessed. And to top this off, he was already writing his own music. He would continue this through grade school, but he would also play clarinet in the school's band. He didn't particularly like it, but he did enjoy conducting. And his piano-playing was good enough to get him into a top-notch conservatory before he had even finished high school. He started going to the Saint Petersburg State Conservatory at age 16 on a state scholarship. However, this would dry up with the collapse of the USSR at the end of 1991, and his parents lost their factory jobs, compounding the problem further. He began trying to sell his published music and tapes of his performances in what was now an independent Estonia, but these didn't bring in nearly enough money. They did, however, get the attention of a faculty member at the Fryderk Chopin Music Academy in Warsaw, Poland. Amazed by what he heard, he had a meeting with the other senior staff members, and they decided to go all out to get this guy in their school. The promise of funding managed to get Martin into FCMA after a year of no studies, and his credits were transferred over. Martin's teachers were thrilled by his seemingly natural talent and his knack for writing epic, dramatic pieces for piano. He also took electives in conducting, and showed almost flawless rhythm. He would end up spending a total of seven years at FCMA, which ended with him getting his MMus in the summer of 2000. His composition teacher said of him, "Chopin himself would be proud of this genius." After completing this degree, he began performing around the world, and composing music as he went. But the end of 2005 brought that to an abrupt end. During the Cataclysm, he would end up fleeing to Vorkuta. He would remain there for 2006 and much of 2007. While in Vorkuta, and keeping up his writing, he would hear of the Uralic Purges, and fearing for his family and people, while also legitimately outraged that such things could be being carried out, he spoke out against the forcing of millions of Uralics - mainly Mari, Mordvins, Karelians, and Komi - from their homes for racially motivated reasons. His celebrity status made him a target in this case, but due to his location in the remoteness of the former Komi Republic area, nobody actually got so far as to attack him. When hearing of his younger sister's jailing in Moskva that June, he appealed to every alliance he could think off to try to get the extremists in the area to free his sister, whom he felt was unfairly jailed. Being half-Estonian, it would be an FCO representative that ended up doing it, but the government of the area refused to release her. The public release of the conversation between the police chief of that area of Moskva and the FCO representative, though, would spark a massive PR backlash. During a skirmish in the area, troops from an FCO nation took the jail over, and released prisoners. But the joy would be short-lived. The ICP Reformation War would catch the transport destined for Finland with prisoners in tow, and in a battle that saw 29 civilian deaths, all eight of those released from the jail were killed. Incensed, Kosk would develop a strong hatred of communism, and as such took time off of composition when he got word that CMEA had declared on FCO, the very alliance that had tried to save his sister, and on the same side as several other alliances that were part of the backlash against extremism in what was once Russia. (This was part of the Unjust War.) Fighting against CMEA, Kosk was a soldier in the eventual victory, and was decorated twice for bravery in combat. After the six-day CMEA-FCO front ended, Kosk hoped to return to Vorkuta, but was called upon by the alliance to continue fighting, this time against the Goon Order of Neutral Shoving. That said, once the nation he had settled in stopped fighting in mid-October, he was cleared to return to Vorkuta, which had become his new home in spite of its relative isolation. He would continue to write music as he was asked to tour again in the closing weeks of 2007. However, upon hearing rumours of a pan-Uralic state forming, and having these confirmed by the Three-Day Revolution in certain cities, he moved to Syktyvkar, mere days shy of the announcement of the Tribal State of Uralica's foundation. Having been baptised a Lutheran, Kosk found his faith revitalised by the new state, as well as his music. And then, in April 2008, he met Sirkka Numminen, his future fiancée, at a concert in the Filharmonia, and was captivated by both her and her music. They would begin having jam sessions together pretty much right away, as they lived close to each other, in the Syktyvkar suburb of Chit'. These would be sporadic at first, because of Numminen's involvement with the production of a music education system for Uralica, but after June 2008, when both had honorary PhDs bestowed upon them by Uralikan Yliopisto for their musical exploits, they became more frequent. Both would later gain tenure at UY, and teach - Kosk would specialise in teaching piano, while Numminen taught composition, cello, and theory/rudiments, and also, chaired the UY School of Music. In September, Kosk asked Numminen to marry him, which she agreed to do joyfully. They were married in August 2010 (the delay had everything to do with their schedules at Uralikan Yliopisto) in the Church of the Resurrection. They planned it so that one of Kosk's pieces was played as Numminen entered, and then one of Numminen's pieces was played as the two exited. They currently live in the Parcheg district of Syktyvkar. Lists of Works Although not quite the fountainhead his wife is, Kosk has composed some hundred and twenty piano works since he began composing at age eleven. Much like his inspiration Chopin, he wrote many nocturnes. Concerti *Pianokontsert #1 in A major - May 1990 *Pianokontsert #2 in C minor - July 1992 *Pianokontsert #3 in G-sharp minor - March 1993 *Pianokontsert #4 in F-sharp major - February 1994 *Pianokontsert #5 in D major - August 1996 *Pianokontsert #6 in E minor - December 1998 *Pianokontsert #7 in F major - March 2000 *Pianokontsert #8 in A-flat major - January 2001 *Pianokontsert #9 in C-sharp major - October 2001 *Pianokontsert #10 in D-sharp minor - April 2002 *Pianokontsert #11 in A minor - May 2006 *Pianokontsert #12 in B-flat major - June 2009 Solo Piano Works Sonatas *Pianosonaat #1 in B-flat major - April 1995 *Pianosonaat #2 in F minor - June 1997 *Pianosonaat #3 in D-flat major - January 1998 *Pianosonaat #4 in A major - December 1998 *Pianosonaat #5 in C minor - May 1999 *Pianosonaat #6 in E-flat major - March 2000 *Pianosonaat #7 in G major - July 2000 *Pianosonaat #8 in F-sharp minor - February 2001 *'Pianosonaat #9 "Suru" in D minor - September 2001' *Pianosonaat #10 in B minor - January 2002 *Pianosonaat #11 in E major - June 2002 *Pianosonaat #12 in C-sharp minor - May 2003 *Pianosonaat #13 in A-flat major - March 2004 *Pianosonaat #14 in F major - April 2006 *Pianosonaat #15 in E major - October 2006 *Pianosonaat #16 in C major - May 2007 *Pianosonaat #17 in D-sharp minor - January 2008 *Pianosonaat #18 in G-sharp minor - August 2009 Nocturnes *Nokturn #1 in E major - March 1986 *Nokturn #2 in D-flat major - April 1987 *Nokturn #3 in A minor - December 1987 *Nokturn #4 in F major - February 1988 *Nokturn #5 in B-flat minor - October 1988 *Nokturn #6 in C major - July 1989 *Nokturn #7 in G-sharp minor - May 1990 *Nokturn #8 in E minor - April 1991 *Nokturn #9 in F-sharp major - December 1991 *Nokturn #10 in B major - August 1992 *Nokturn #11 in C-sharp minor - January 1993 *Nokturn #12 in G major - November 1993 *Nokturn #13 in B minor - June 1994 *Nokturn #14 in A-flat major - February 1995 *Nokturn #15 in E-flat major - May 1996 *Nokturn #16 in G minor - January 1997 *Nokturn #17 in A major - October 1997 *Nokturn #18 in F minor - March 1998 *Nokturn #19 in C major - May 1999 *Nokturn #20 in E minor - July 2000 *Nokturn #21 in B-flat major - December 2000 *Nokturn #22 in D major - April 2001 *Nokturn #23 in F-sharp major - November 2001 *Nokturn #24 in A minor - February 2002 *Nokturn #25 in C minor - July 2002 *Nokturn #26 in E major - December 2002 *Nokturn #27 in E-flat major - June 2004 *Nokturn #28 in G major - September 2005 *Nokturn #29 in G-sharp minor - March 2006 *Nokturn #30 in F major - November 2006 *Nokturn #31 in D-sharp minor - May 2007 *Nokturn #32 in C major - October 2007 *Nokturn #33 in F-sharp minor - February 2008 *Nokturn #34 in D major - May 2008 *Nokturn #35 in A-flat major - August 2008 *Nokturn #36 in B minor - December 2008 *Nokturn #37 in E minor - April 2009 *Nokturn #38 in C minor - September 2009 *Nokturn #39 in G minor - January 2010 *Nokturn #40 in F minor - September 2010 Scherzi Kosk's now-wife, Sirkka Numminen, based her Kaksitoista Koskinteeman Variaatiot on various selections from his scherzos. *Scherzo #1 in B-flat major - March 1989 *Scherzo #2 in C-sharp minor - June 1990 *Scherzo #3 in G major - May 1991 *Scherzo #4 in E-flat minor - December 1991 *Scherzo #5 in A major - August 1993 *Scherzo #6 in F-sharp minor - October 1993 *Scherzo #7 in D minor - February 1994 *Scherzo #8 in G-sharp minor - November 1994 *Scherzo #9 in C major - May 1995 *Scherzo #10 in E major - January 1996 *Scherzo #11 in A-flat major - September 1996 *Scherzo #12 in B-flat minor - April 1998 *Scherzo #13 in F major - December 1999 *Scherzo #14 in G minor - May 2001 *Scherzo #15 in D-flat major - July 2002 *Scherzo #16 in A minor - February 2003 *Scherzo #17 in E minor - June 2005 *Scherzo #18 in C minor - October 2006 *Scherzo #19 in B minor - March 2008 *Scherzo #20 in F minor - May 2009 Études *Etüüd #1 in A major - March 1997 *Etüüd #2 in G-sharp minor - May 1999 *Etüüd #3 in C-sharp minor - July 2000 *Etüüd #4 in F major - February 2001 *Etüüd #5 in B minor - November 2001 *Etüüd #6 in C major - June 2003 *Etüüd #7 in A-sharp minor - January 2004 *Etüüd #8 in E major - August 2004 *Etüüd #9 in F-sharp minor - March 2005 *Etüüd #10 in E-flat major - February 2006 *Etüüd #11 in B-flat major - January 2007 *Etüüd #12 in G minor - July 2009 Rondos *Rondo #1 in F minor - July 1986 *Rondo #2 in C major - January 1987 *Rondo #3 in A-flat major - April 1990 *Rondo #4 in G minor - June 1996 *Rondo #5 in D major - February 1998 *Rondo #6 in E-flat minor - May 2000 *Rondo #7 in D-flat major - November 2001 *Rondo #8 in F-sharp major - February 2003 * Rondo #9 in B-flat major - November 2004 *'Rondo #10 "Apokalüpsis"' in G-sharp minor - October 2005 *Rondo #11 in F major - March 2007 *Rondo #12 in A major - January 2008 *Rondo #13 in B minor - May 2010 Others *''Neli Tantsid'' (actually a 4-in-1 piece) - August 1985, his first published work. The four parts are in C minor, G minor, D-flat major, and A-flat major respectively. *Toccata ja Fuuga #1 in D minor - March 2000 *Toccata ja Fuuga #2 in F-sharp major - November 2007 *''Elektronika'' (a piece for a piano and three synths) in G major - May 2009 *'Sirkka' (in E major) - August 2010, written specially for his and Sirkka Numminen's wedding. Category:Music In Uralica Category:People of Uralica